The highest-rated quarterback recruit from the state of Pennsylvania in the last 15 years will square off against the highest-rated quarterback recruit from the state of Ohio in the modern recruiting era when Ohio State plays Penn State on Saturday.
They just aren’t playing for the teams you’d expect.
Drew Allar, a five-star recruit from Medina, Ohio, is in his first year as Penn State’s starting quarterback. Kyle McCord, Ohio State’s first-year starting quarterback, grew up in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, but played his high school football in Pennsylvania at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, where he too became a five-star recruit.
They’ll face off against each other for the first time on Saturday in what will be the biggest test yet for both of them as collegiate starters.
The stories of how McCord and Allar ended up playing in opposite states from where they played their high school football are different from one another. In McCord’s case, he was as heavily recruited by Penn State as he was by Ohio State – he actually received his offer from the Nittany Lions seven months before he got his offer from the Buckeyes – but decided to go a little further away from home because he felt playing for Ryan Day and OSU was the best fit for him.
“If you live in that Pennsylvania, New Jersey area, Penn State's like the school that everybody dreams of going to. So I’ve obviously been to a bunch of Penn State games, actually got to see them play Ohio State in 2018, the White Out game when Dwayne (Haskins) led them back in that comeback win,” McCord said Wednesday. “In the recruiting process, they were great. They were probably my number two choice. But I think when Coach Day gave me the green light to commit, there was really no doubt that this was the place to be, given his track record.”
McCord said he knew when he left that game in 2018, even though he was there as a Penn State recruit and did not yet have an Ohio State offer at the time, that he could see himself being a Buckeye, a future that ultimately went into motion when he was offered by OSU four months later.
“That was really one of Dwayne's first big games. And seeing how they used him in the offense. I was like, ‘You know, if Ohio State ever recruits me, I think that would definitely be something to consider,’ seeing the way they're using Dwayne, the way they're throwing the ball. And it just opened my eyes to it. Because I never really thought Ohio State was gonna be the school I was going to end up at, just because of the traditional track record with Braxton (Miller) and Terrelle Pryor and all that, wasn't really a pocket passing type of offense with a quarterback. Funny enough, a few months go by, the season ends in January and they offer me, and I was like, ‘Wow,’” McCord recalled.
“Definitely the way that game played out, I remember talking to my dad about it and I was like, ‘If Ohio State comes calling, I think that’s definitely a school to consider.’”
Penn State wanted McCord as much as it wanted any quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class – the Nittany Lions instead ended up with three-star prospect Christian Veilleux, who has since transferred to Pittsburgh – so it’s no surprise to James Franklin that McCord has been successful so far at Ohio State, where McCord is 7-0 as a starter and has completed 109 of 170 passing attempts for 1,651 yards and 11 touchdowns with only one interception this season.
“We recruited him. We know a lot about him. We had a ton of respect for him out of high school and continue to. We think he's going to be a challenge for us on Saturday as well,” Franklin said Tuesday.
Allar, on the other hand, was committed to Penn State before he ever received an offer from Ohio State. Allar was just a four-star recruit during the fall of 2020 when the Buckeyes landed a commitment from Quinn Ewers, who was ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2022 class at the time. The Buckeyes attempted to flip Allar after Ewers reclassified into the 2021 class in August 2021, but by then it was too late, as Allar had been committed to Penn State since March and never wavered in his commitment.
“I always said during my recruiting process internally, like I was never just gonna flip after I committed unless something major happened. And nothing major happened. So I was always 100% in with Penn State, and I still am,” Allar said this week.
Ohio State knew its chances of landing Allar would be a long shot after jumping into his recruitment late, but the Buckeyes – who still ended up landing a top-six-ranked quarterback in the 2022 class in Devin Brown – took their shot at wooing Allar anyway because they recognized his talent.
“We were always respectful of the situation. He was always respectful of the situation. He and his family were great. And just, that's kind of the way it played out. But a lot of respect for those guys,” Day said this week. “When you're committed somewhere and you have a relationship over time, it's just one of those things where you kind of talk to them and reach out and just see if anything were ever to change let us know. But at the same time, he was committed to Penn State and we respected that.”
“They were probably my number two choice. But I think when Coach Day gave me the green light to commit, there was really no doubt that this was the place to be, given his track record.”– Kyle McCord on picking Ohio State over Penn State
Had Allar changed his mind and flipped to Ohio State, he would have competed with McCord for Ohio State’s starting quarterback job this offseason. Instead, he became the new starting quarterback at Penn State, where he’s completed 118 of 181 passing attempts for 1,254 yards and 12 touchdowns with zero interceptions through six games this season.
At this juncture, it’s still too early to say whether Ohio State or Penn State ended up with the better quarterback from the other state. Their composite recruiting ratings were nearly identical; McCord’s rating of 98.58 was the highest of any quarterback from Pennsylvania since Terrelle Pryor (99.97) was the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2008 recruiting class, while Allar’s rating of 98.52 narrowly edged out Braxton Miller (98.47 in 2011) for the best-ever 247Sports composite rating for a high school quarterback from Ohio.
Their statistics in their first year as collegiate starting quarterbacks have been similar, too, though McCord (9.7) has averaged nearly three more yards per attempt than Allar (6.9), as McCord and his receivers have connected for 27 plays of 20-plus yards through the air compared to just 11 for Allar and his receivers. Allar does not lack for arm strength, so those numbers might look different if he was the one throwing to the likes of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Julian Fleming – who are also both from Pennsylvania but chose Ohio State over Penn State – and Emeka Egbuka and Cade Stover.
This week, however, could provide a truer measure of how the two quarterbacks stack up against each other. Both quarterbacks will be facing the best opponents they’ve faced yet as starters, and more specifically two of the best pass defenses in the country, as Penn State leads the country in passing yards allowed per game and per attempt while Ohio State ranks fourth in both categories.
Neither quarterback denies the challenges in front of them this week or that this week’s game means a little more to them than just any game, but both quarterbacks say they’re trying to keep their approach consistent with what’s worked for them all season.
“We look forward to it because at the end of the day, we all came to Penn State to play in games like this. And they went to Ohio State to play in games like this as well. So we just got to take our opportunities this week throughout practice, make sure we're fully prepared for everything,” Allar said. “And just go out and play sound football. Don't try to do something that you're used to not doing.”
McCord said he’d have this game circled on the calendar regardless of whether he had Pennsylvania roots because of how important a game it is for the Buckeyes, but his history in the Keystone State only adds to his excitement in playing the Nittany Lions for the first time.
“Playing with a lot of these guys in high school, playing against them, I think just makes it even more special. But I think just because they’re such a quality opponent, I think that's why everybody's looking forward to it so much,” McCord said. “Regardless of if it's my home school or not, just I think the magnitude of the game, two undefeated teams, top-10 matchup, you can't draw it up any better than that. So I think regardless of who the opponent was, I'm gonna be amped up for it and I know all the guys will be too.”
